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5 April 2017

Nigerian Emerges Students’ Union President in California University

Nigerian-born Chimezie Ebiriekwe has emerged the new President of the
Associated Students of San Diego University, California, USA.
The results were announced following a peaceful election that
featured four candidates. However, Ebiriekwe won the poll with 3,454
votes. While his closest opponent, Ben Delbick got 1,189, Chloe Sension
got 1,014 and Kaitlyn Hart got 94.

Addressing the media after the results were announced; Ebiriekwe, who
hails from Imo state, spoke on how he got involved with students’ union
politics in the United States.
He said: “Originally, coming on campus, I was not involved with Associated Students.

“I was chief financial officer of the African Student Union and from
there I saw the impact I made within that organization and then I sought
out to be the chief financial officer of the Student African-American
Brotherhood during my second year.
“I just continuously saw the impact I was making within the
university and I saw the issues our community was facing so I decided to
seek out Associated Students and be involved in decision-making
processes.

“I was a part of making sure our voice was heard, whether it’s in
student life or academics or university affairs, I just wanted to make
sure that I was representing the community.
“I got on the University Affairs Board, and from there I became
knowledgeable about the position of Vice President of University
Affairs.
“I learnt that students’ were not able to get firsthand information
about what’s going on in the university. Usually, knowledge about what’s
happening on campus is just like reading a newsletter that is posted to
the 2018 freshman page.

“That’s howwe find out what went on, what the repercussion from that was, and who made the decision,

“I felt like students needed to know the issues rightly when they
arrive and be able to give feedback to the faculty and staff. To be able
to reach out to the students and get insight on what they think should
be done.”
Associated Students is akin to the Students’ Union Government (SUG) in Nigerian tertiary institutions.